Yes it's me alright! Alastair is also a Lecturer at Loughborough University School of Art & Design. I was the life model in some of his classes and used that very jacket among other clothing (a tail coat, a top hat, a waistcoat...) to model for the students.

During the Summer when I wasn't working he asked if I'd model for him and I was happy to... especially as an art history graduate. I did only two sittings tho'. One was where he took photos to work from and the second was in front of him while he painted to get the shades of red on the jacket right.

Beneath the jacket... gasp, I am topless to give a contrast to the jacket. It's quite an amazing portrait too. He sent me a digital image of it so that I could have a copy.

Now a third year student, Ben Cohen is also doing a portrait of me - naked! He was going to do a triptych, which would be good and the last time I saw the first one it was almost finished and looked stunning. I'm hoping he'll put it forward for either the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition or the BP National Portrait Award exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, both in London._________________Confusion comes fitted as standard.

am imagining Alastair painting the folk of Chocolate & Zucchini..first off would be Clotilde..I wonder how he would present her...

such fun 'twould be methinks..

love that painting...simply love it!_________________"I've never accepted the external appearance of things as the whole truth. The world is much more elaborate than the nerves of our eye can tell us." - James Gleeson